INSPIRATION

QUOTES

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Ghandhi

“Music is an Art, the medium of which is Sound.” – George A. Wedge

“No one has more often than he flouted what is known as squareness.” – Hector Berlioz on Beethoven

“… less refined nerves require the monumental: when the sense of hearing is incapable of compelling the imagination, one must add the sense of sight.” – Arnold Schoenberg

“The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.” – Duke Ellington

“I change the way I do even the most simple things around the house periodically so I don’t get too comfortable doing it just one way, [it] helps keep my outlook fresh.” – John Carisi

“I’m a sonority nut.” – Bill Finegan

“I hate it when they call me a great big band drummer; I don’t play any different than when I’m in a *!!#* small group!” – Mel Lewis

“The truth is that the melodic impulse is the force out of which germinates not only harmony but also counterpoint and form. For the linear impulse is activated by motion, and motion means life, creation, propagation and formation.” – Ernst Toch

As told to me by Phil Schaap, jazz historian:

Lawrence Lucie, guitarist with Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter and Jelly Roll Morton, among many others, described the function of the FOUR piece rhythm section thusly:

1. The bass player is in charge of 1 and 3.
2. The guitar player is in charge of 2 and 4.
3. The drummer is in charge of making sure that the music is swinging.
4. The piano player is in charge of the music.
5. The bass player & the guitar player TOGETHER are in charge of making sure the drummer doesn’t rush.

“Just because you’re not a drummer doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep time.” – Thelonius Monk

“If you want to be successful in this business, you never say no until you’re too busy to say yes.” – ‘Bones’ Howe, LA record producer

“It’s our duty to allow bluegrass music to grow and flourish, and at the same time, retain the most important part of it — that is, the essence of the sound.” – Tony Rice